House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) defended President Joe Biden’s budget Friday during a press conference.
“President Biden has produced a budget. House Republicans produced a ransom note,” Jeffries said. “That is what the Default on America Act is, and that is wildly irresponsible.”
HOUSE REPUBLICANS START TO BRING SOME FISCAL SANITY BACK TO THE GOVERNMENT
The United States hit the previous debt ceiling of $31.4 trillion in January. Republican House members created and passed the Limit, Save, Grow Act to set the limit at $1.5 trillion or delay it until March 31, 2024, whichever comes first. The bill also reduces spending by setting the federal discretionary spending limit at $1.47 trillion for the coming fiscal year.
Jeffries expressed his confidence that the country will be able to pay all its bills, reminding reporters that the U.S. has never defaulted in its history. When former President Donald Trump was in office, Democratic House members worked with him on three separate occasions to come to a consensus to raise the debt ceiling, Jeffries said.
Meanwhile, the House Administration Committee voted unanimously to reimburse all members for rent, utilities, and meals in late December 2022. A reporter asked Jeffries to explain how this did not result in a pay raise for members.
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“It’s a reimbursement,” Jeffries reiterated. “The effort to make sure that members are reimbursed for housing expenses has been bipartisan in nature from the very beginning. It was a bipartisan recommendation from the House Modernization Committee.”
House members are paid $174,000 annually. Now, lawmakers can submit reimbursement requests for hotel stays as well as rents and utilities connected to properties located in Washington, D.C. Those expenses would be capped at a daily rate between $172 and $258 and will be tied to the House schedule.
